Puzzle Pieces From the Clay
by lovable hate
Summary: Immediately after 'Game over Charles'. Spencer tells Toby about what really happened to his mother. Title comes from the Iron and Wine Cover of 'Such Great Heights'.


**Hey guys! So I'm not new to fanfiction writing but this is my first PLL piece. I've loved the show for ages, especially Spencer and her relationship with Toby. There has not been enough spoby this season!**

 **This is a very quickly written one shot. I apologise for any errors. Also, sorry for my English spelling- I wrote 'Mum' as 'Mom' but apart from that I haven't tried to change anything because I'm not entirely sure which words differ.**

 **I know this isn't brilliant but I just had to get it down. It's about Spencer telling Toby what happened to his Mum. I realise other people have written stories about this already but I purposefully haven't read any to avoid inadventantly copying them.**

 **Reviews would be very welcome indeed. Thanks!**

 **0f course I don't own PLL or any of the characters I've written about.**

He was there waiting for her- well of course he was. A wave of emotion flooded over Spencer's exhausted frame, her knees nearly giving way under the weight of the relief, anguish and love she felt as her eyes met his piercing blue ones. Toby was standing at the front of a small crowd of bistanders, the red and blue lights of the police cars flickering across his worry lined face. She wanted to run towards him, fall into his arms and bury her face into his chest, but Emily's tight grip on her arm prevented her from doing so. Her heart went out to her sobbing friend- Spencer knew how it felt to find the one you loved was working with A and for Emily this was the real deal.

Toby watched as the group of officers that had escorted the girls down from the roof ushered them towards a waiting ambulance. His eyes locked with Spencer's for a mere second, before an unfamiliar cop placed his hand in her back and pushed her after her friends. Even at this distance, Toby could recognise the tension in her shoulders and could see the dried tears beneath her tired eyes. Pushing past the junior officer who was attempting the control the growing crowd of concerned friends and curious onlookers, he began to run towards his girlfriend.

"Toby!" The sound of his name caused him to whip his head back to look behind him, and the friends were lost amongst the throng of people. It was Caleb. "Where's Hanna and the girls?"

"This way," he replied, turning back and walking purposefully towards the ambulance, his friends hot on his heels. Reaching the vehicle, Toby saw Alison, Emily and Hanna sat in the back of the ambulance. Ali was in pieces, hot tears making tracks in her makeup and Emily was nearly as bad. Toby hesitated at the sight of Em in such distress- he had once regarded her as his only friend and seeing her this way was difficult. However, she seemed to have eyes only for Alison and he was longing to find Spencer.

"Hanna!"

"Caleb," the blonde, who was slumped despondently next to the other girls, collapsed into her boyfriend's arms. "I'm fine," she reassured him thickly. "I'm just cold and shaky and I want to go home."

"Hanna where's Spencer?" Toby asked, unable to keep back the tinge of concern from his tone. Hanna tore her face from Caleb's chest to reply.

"Spencer and Aria are with Tanner. They're both fine, we're all fine." Toby nodded curtly, his eyes combing the crowds in search of his boss. He spotted her quickly, and as he pushed his way towards her. Tanner was stood beside Aria who was relaying the events of the night to the detective. His eyes finally settled on Spencer who was leaning dejectedly against the cop car, a dazed expression on her face.

"-and then she stepped off the side and she… she said game over," Aria finished as Toby reached the girls.

"Spencer?" Her head jerked up at the sound of her name. Her intelligent brown eyes locked onto his piercing blue ones and a quiet whimper escaped from her throat as she flew into his waiting embrace. "Spence," he tightened his grip around her as a sob trembled through her body. "Are you o-"

"Cece," she uttered simply, taking a breath before the words came tumbling out. "Cece was Charles, or Charlotte actually. And Sara was helping her, Sara was redcoat and Mr and Mrs DiLaurentis had another child but Wilden… I mean to say Ali's Dad saw-"

"Spencer, babe it's okay." His hand rubbed up and down her back slowly, comfortingly. A slow, shaky breath pushed itself out of her lips and she could feel the tension slowly melting away. He rested his chin gently on her head only for a moment, before pressing a kiss onto her forehead. "It's okay. It's all over now." Fresh tears prickled in her eyes as she considered how to tell him everything she'd learnt about what truly happened to his mother, and her fingers tightened into a fist around his shirt. He withdrew from the hug, his hand resting just below her shoulders as he examined her carefully. "Did she hurt you?"

"She didn't touch any of us," Spencer replied honestly, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Except, Jason's on his way to hospital, he was drugged. They say he's going to be okay. She did the same to Ali's Dad but I'm kind of struggling to feel sorry for him right now," she finished bitterly. She gnawed at her lip, dipping her head as she struggled to voice the words that had been dancing at her lips ever since she'd locked eyes with her beloved. "Tobes, I need to tell you something. Something important."

His piercing blue eyes met her gentle brown ones, and he reached up to gently brush a stray her behind her ear. "We need to get you home, safe. Have a rest this can wait until tomorrow."

"It can't," she countered flatly. "Toby it's about… it's about your mother." Spencer felt his hands tense around her arms at the mention of his Mom, and she lifted her head to meet his gaze again.

"Well girls that's all I need from you right now." Tanner's voice broke the weighted silence. "If you two want to join your friends in the ambulance and you can get checked over."

"Spencer's fine with me," Toby retorted, slipping his hand into his girlfriends. "I'll take her home."

Tanner nodded. "If you're sure you're physically well, Miss Hastings."

"Aria are you okay for a lift?" Spencer asked, hoping her tiny friend would pick up on the fact that her and Toby seriously needed to be alone. Fortunately, Aria nodded.

"Ezra's looking for me." She reached up and pulled Spencer into a hug. "I can't believe it's finally over, Spence."

"We survived A. And we're stronger for it," she replied tersely. "I'll call you tomorrow." Aria nodded, going in search of the former English teacher.

"C'mon. The truck's this way." Toby led Spencer away from the scene of chaos, his arms snaking around her tiny waist. They drove away from Radley mainly in silence, Spencer eyes never ceasing to monitor Toby's face for any miniscule changes in expression. He finally pulled the truck to a halt at their spot, atop the hill with the view of Rosewood. Turning to face her, he took both her hands into his and kissed her knuckles gently waiting for her to talk.

"Cece was in Radley at the same time as your Mom," Spencer began hesitantly, moving her thumb gently across his knuckles. Toby nodded, looked resolutely down at his lap. "She was friends with Bethany Young. They were on the roof together and your mother found them up there."

Toby nodded, tears burning in his eyes. "And Cece pushed her," he muttered, his voice breaking. Spencer shook her head.

"It was Bethany. That bitch thought she was protecting Cece who was then Charles. They were scared of what people would think about the 'boy in the dress'." Toby squeezed her hands tightly, so tight she thought they might break. A sob escaped his throat and tears poured freely down his cheeks.

"So she… she didn't leave me?" He tilted his head up to meet Spencer eyes, which were also brimming with tears. She shook her head, unable to form the words. Instead, she pulled him into a bone crushing hug, his hands gripping the fabric of her back of her dress and hers raking through his hair. "She didn't leave us," he repeated.

"Bethany made Cece take the blame," Spencer explained, fighting to keep her voice steady. One of them had to be strong. "That's why Mrs. D paid Wilden to cover for them." She leant back, and touched his face gently with a shaking hand, stopping a tear with her thumb. "She loved you Toby. She wanted to come home. She never stopped thinking about you."

A ghost of a smile passed over Toby's face, his chest heaving with emotion. "I'm sorry Spence, I should be comforting you. You're the one who's been through hell with Cece."

"I feel sorry for her," she replied honestly. "She put us both through so much, she nearly broke us up for good a couple of times. But that's it now. She said it herself. The game's over." She leant forward, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "Bethany's dead. Cece's going to go back to a hospital- not Radley a good one. We're all getting out of Rosewood at the end of summer. And right now, we're going home together."

Toby pulled Spencer onto his lap, moving her hair and planting a kiss on the back of her neck. "Let's just wait her for a while," he murmured. "Let's just sit and look at the view." She settled back into him, interlocking her fingers with his.

"I love you so much, Tobes. And I'm never going to leave you. You're my safe place to land, and you know you always will be."

"I love you Spencer Hastings," he whispered into her ear. "I always will." Just as Spencer leant round to kiss him again, her phone began to buzz.

"It's Ali," she sighed. "I'm sorry I better answer this." She held the phone to her ear, Toby playing with the end of her mahogany waves and she spoke briefly with her friend. Confusion crossed her brow before she dropped the phone back on the seat.

"Ali just found my Mom in her basement?"

 **In my universe me know what happened to the Mums haha! Thanks for reading, I would love a review**


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